Jeff Langmaid explains how degenerative changes in the disc's outer layer cause herniation: water loss in the nucleus, collagen damage, and elevated inflammation. He outlines non-surgical approaches to address these micro-level changes.
Here's some interesting things that I picked up on in this study. Maybe those early stats, you are familiar with some of this. You might not be. It's actually a consequence of degenerative changes in the annulus fibrosis. So those changes, those degenerative changes in the annulus can include a few different things. One, reduction in water concentration in the nucleus two, elevation of type 1 collagen ratio in the nucleus and the inner annulus three, three, damage in collagen and extracellular material four, an upregulation of matrix protein expression, MMP. That's important. And all of this can have a higher rate of cell death and an intensified inflammatory response. So those are some things that are going on really at that micro level. When we look at the annulus fibrosis, those are some of the degenerative changes that can lead to disc herniation and all the pain that comes downstream from that.
